The Mess is Coming from Within (And a Giveaway!)
The list of things I'm good at is a long one, but so is the list of things I consistently fail to do effectively. At the tippy-top of that list, constantly threatening to fall over, are my cleaning skills (or lack thereof). Long ago, extended family threatened to buy me a t-shirt that said "Domestically Challenged" for Christmas.
I would have worn that thing with pride.
The thing about being bad at cleaning is that it's the sort of thing that triggers a domino effect. I fail one day and then the next day I have double the failure, and then triple, and so on. The mess accumulates and the next thing you know, there's an entire cat's worth of fur clinging to the curtains.
Whoops?
Go ahead and guess how having a toddler in the house makes all of that so much better. Actually, it's the opposite of better because did you know that toddlers are sticky? ALWAYS? I swear I can give Mila a bath, wrap her in a towel, and three minutes later she's magically sticky again, even though she hasn't left my arms. I legit have no idea where she finds the sticky. Does it ooze out of toddler pores? It must, right? Because WHY ARE TODDLERS SO STICKY?
To aid in concealing my domestically challenged ways (there is no cure, just things that can make me look like less of a failure), I like to surround myself with shortcuts. I'm not going to drag out the vacuum to clean crumbs off of the kitchen floor, but if there's a broom that's stored in a convenient place, I stand a chance. I follow the same sort of logic when it comes to keeping disinfecting wipes around the house. I could use paper towels and spray, but the disinfecting wipes bring together the best of both of those worlds in one convenient to store package. Besides, I can never find the paper towels. I'm sure I left them around here somewhere...
ANYWAY.
I'm picky about my disinfecting wipes, for the record. It's that lazy thing. I prefer Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes with Micro-Scrubbers because one side of the wipe is textured and does a great job when scrubbing sticky, crusty, gross messes. The other side is smooth and does great when I need to wipe away dirt.
Given that there is a toddler in the house, the answer to sticky and crusty or just dirty is YES. The answer is YES. Both. Always.
Which reminds me of a certain mystery in my life. You know how there is glass on your oven door? Have you ever had the space between the glass get dirty? Well, can you explain to me how Mila managed to spread her sticky to the inside of my oven door? BECAUSE I CAN'T.
I have no idea how she managed it, but one day I walked into the kitchen and could see sticky toddler fingers all over the glass. I tried wiping the outside but quickly realized the mess was coming from within. It was like that threatening phone call, but with less creepy music playing in the background. Even more mysterious, there was cat fur stuck to the sticky, as if Mila had disassembled the door, wiped her sticky hands all over it, and then tried to clean her sticky with a cat.
An hour later, I figured out how to clean the disaster. It involved a bent wire coat hanger and a handful of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes with Micro-Scrubbers. The best part -- I didn't have to disassemble the door.
YAY FOR CLOROX® DISINFECTING WIPES WITH MICRO-SCRUBBERS!
You can learn more on Facebook, follow @Clorox on twitter, or visit the website.
What's the oddest mess you've ever had to clean up? Tell me in the comments for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card.
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Thursday, May 5, 2016
Reader Comments (153)
The oddest mess that I have ever had to clean up is paint on the fish tank. One of my cleaning hacks is to use Clorox disinfecting wipes with micro scrubbers in the kitchen and bathroom, I even keep them in the car.
I had to clean up lollipop stuck to the carpet.
tweet--https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/728347533051834368
The oddest mess would be when my daughter tries to be crafty and gets paint, glue or other supplies all over.
tweet
https://twitter.com/Kellydpa/status/728378129509711873
The oddest mess was melted crayon stuck inside the carpet
https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/728390952046321665
The worst mess I ever cleaned up is when I was painting the bedroom and I turned around for only a few minutes, my son spilled the blue paint all over himself. It was so hard to get the paint off, but I laugh now because he was so cute!
tweet-https://twitter.com/JewelWood/status/728396763053182977
I think my oddest mess was cleaning up an entire container of oatmeal when my daughter was younger . it trailed from the kitchen to the living room
my tweet https://twitter.com/skhekh/status/728424320440111105
The oddest mess was mulberry stains from my dogs. They tracked berries into my home.
https://mobile.twitter.com/arress83/status/728537298036494336
I once had to clean up melted chocolate chips from carpeting that my dog had gotten into. It was a super hot day and I had left the air conditioning off.
every mess I have is cleaned with Clorox, the strangest mess I cleaned up was not really a visual mess, but after the turtle they brought home crawled around my tub for 2 hours, I wouldn't touch it with anything until it had been throughly cleaned with Clorox wipes.
An entire pitcher of sweet tea that spilled in my car!
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
The worst mess I ever cleaned was the Thanksgiving Day pumpkin cookie mess. My 3 year old was stealing the cookies and no one notice. He had to eat at least 12, but he also got some on the walls by his bedroom. Once he was in bed I got to cleaning the walls and I was almost done when he walked out of his room and gave me a carpet to clean too.
Oddest? With 2 kids the list is long. But the oddest in a house is probably my own messes from my pottery studio. Not a lot of folks up to wipe up clay sludge or glaze spatters. But clorox wipes do a decent job of it :)
Years ago my parents were visiting and they bought a bag of potatoes. Instead of putting them away where potatoes go (why would they???) A the.potatoes went into an unused drawer in the kitchen. Weeks later, a smell. When we found the smell, it was because the potatoes had LIQUEFIED (did you know that happens? I didn't.). My husband was stuck cleaning that up because luckily (?) I was pregnant and said the smell must be dangerous to the fetus.
The oddest thing I've had to clean up....Probably old unknown food that got left behind in the fridge....Thanks for the giveaway!
https://twitter.com/ThatMomLife/status/728710136714375169
^ tweet! Thank you!
The oddest mess for me was peanut butter on our cat. Our youngest son decided to give our cat a washing with peanut butter. What a mess and try to give a bath to a cat...
Thanks so much.
Tweeted: https://twitter.com/peg42/status/728733045604401152
Thanks again.
I once left poorly packaged frozen steaks to defrost in my fridge overnight. Needless to say, the next day juices were flowing throughout the fridge including the vegetable drawer. What a mess! Luckily I had Clorox disinfecting wipes on hand to clean and disinfect the fridge in no time.
The oddest mess I ever cleaned up was blueberry juice that spilled all over our cream-colored rug. Not fun but it actually came out (or soaked in where you couldn't see it!).
Tweet link: https://twitter.com/shala_darkstone/status/728765359097008128
not an odd mess, but had to clean up a whole carton of eggs that I dropped on the kitchen floor.
tweet-https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/728923182225231873
I once dropped an entire defrosted turkey on the floor...What a mess. An odd and GROSS mess. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
Erin
ErinLoves2Run at gmail dot com
I had to clean up the broth and grease from our Thanksgiving turkey that I spilled all over the kitchen floor.
My oddest? I would have to say chicken tortilla soup spilled all over my fridge and floor.
https://twitter.com/mommysweetiepie/status/729044428342501376
the oddest mess I need to clean was gum on my kids jacket! They don't chew gums and I didn't even know how it ended up on their jackets
amy [at] utry [dot] it
tweeted:
https://twitter.com/uTry_it/status/729123674062618624
amy [at] utry [dot] it
The oddest mess I've ever had to clean up is ginger chew in the linen drawers.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
tweet-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/729167273324208128
Hmmmmm. Weirdest mess was probably the undigested spaghetti my babysitting charge threw up ALL over the bathroom immediately after eating it because he was so excited to see me. I was kind of honored, in a gross way. No one has ever vomited up food out of excitement for my sheer arrival before.
The oddest mess I've ever had to cleanup is probably pigeon poop from my fiance's backpack- while he was wearing it.
Racoon guts.
With kids, it's usually something food related, like yogurt sprayed all over the walls.
chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com
Sweet tea that spilled all over the front seat of my car!
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
Any mess the puppy makes!
The oddest mess I've ever had to clean up would probably be melted gummy bears from the floors!
tweeted https://twitter.com/stephcouponsxx/status/731547372761821184
melted crayons on the radiator. colorful like abstract art.
The oddest mess that I can think of at this time is a deep dish pizza that went all over the oven and the kitchen floor.
Oh gosh, probably unidentified food in my toddler's hair! haha
The oddest mess was dried toothpaste all over our dog's back!
Tweet: https://twitter.com/PrettyHotPink6/status/734049627696046080
I can think of a lot of gross things I've had to clean up, but nothing... really... odd? I... broke a glass shelf in a bead store and thousands of beads hit the floor... I helped clean that up! That's a bit strange lol